Originally Posted by
TOM100
i don’t fully agree with that last statement - the airport is fully in charge of a large chunk of their operating expenses and commercial activities. That’s like saying my local shop can do nothing unless customers walk through his door (which in the literal sense of course is correct) but if he has a commercial strategy to offer a diversified range of products, keeps his pricing keen, markets his shop intelligently and keeps his overhead costs low so he can invest in the former - he stands a better chance of getting people through the door and making money.
if the customers don’t come in the volume he needs - he needs to adapt by reducing cost to adjust to the volume reality, adjust his strategy, go out of business or hand over to someone else with new ideas and more forward thinking who can make a success of his business. He doesn’t have the option of saying well what can I do I am at the complete mercy of the customers who won’t come !
But the local shop owner can stock his shop with the products he needs to attract his customers into the store. Brand's like coca cola or walkers don't tell him that he can only stock certain items or that he can't stock their brand at all because they want his customers to go to the tesco down the road. Unlike an airport which is dependent on the airline choosing to fly from there.